College football, Tour Championship golf, NFL preseason lead weekend sports slate

MIAMI, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The first cluster of college football games, the Tour Championship golf tournament and NFL preseason finales will headline this weekend's sports events.

Also, the Little League World Series finale will air Sunday from Williamsport, Pa.

Dozens of soccer and MLB games, the WNBA playoffs, a Formula 1 race and two NASCAR races in Daytona Beach, Fla., are among the other events planned this weekend.

But college football's slate of season openers should be among the most-watched contests. The 11-game slate doesn't include many top-tier programs, but will give fans a glimpse of what's to come when the rest of the teams take the field next week for their 2022 debuts.

College football

Western Kentucky will host Austin Peay in the first college football game of the season at noon EDT Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky. That game will air on CBS Sports Network. Western Kentucky is a heavy favorite.

Northwestern will host Nebraska in the second game at 12:30 p.m. on Fox. UNLV Will host Idaho State at 3:30 p.m. on CBSSN.

Utah State will battle UConn at 4 p.m. on FS1. Illinois will host Wyoming at the same time on Big Ten Network. Florida State will face Duquesne at 5 p.m. on ACC Network. Florida Atlantic will play Charlotte at 7 p.m. on CBSSN. North Carolina will host Florida A&M at 8:15 p.m. on ACC Network.

New Mexico State will host Nevada at 10 p.m. on ESPN2. Hawaii will host Vanderbilt in the final game of the weekend at 10:30 p.m. on CBSSN.

The next slate of college football games will start Thursday and runs through Sept. 5.

Tour Championship

The Tour Championship, the finale of the golf's FedExCup playoffs, teed off Thursday and will run to Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Viewers can catch the 29-player field on Golf Channel and NBC. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Patrick Cantlay are the favorites to win the tournament and its $18 million first-place prize.

World No. 5 Xander Schauffele, No. 4 Rory McIlroy and No. 6 Jon Rahm join Scheffler and Cantlay (No. 3) among the Top 5 favorites for the title. No. 14 Tony Finau, No. 2 Cameron Smith, No. 12 Sam Burns, No. 19 Sungjae Im and No. 7 Justin Thomas also are expected to contend.

Scheffler teed off with two-stroke advantage on the field, due to his spot atop the FedExCup rankings. He started the tournament at 10-under par.

Cantlay, who ranks second in the standings, started at 8-under par. Other players in the field also started under par or at par, based on their position in the standings.

NFL preseason

Four teams took the field Thursday to kick off the final week of NFL preseason games. Four more games be held Friday, with another eight Saturday and two Sunday.

Six weekend games will air on national TV. The other games will air on local TV networks and NFL+. NFL Network will air five of those games.

The Dallas Cowboys will host the Seattle Seahawks in the first of those five games at 8 p.m. EDT Friday. The Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Atlanta Falcons at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Cincinnati Bengals will battle the Los Angeles Rams in a Super Bowl LVI rematch at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Denver Broncos will meet the Minnesota Vikings in Saturday's nightcap at 9 p.m. on NFL Network. The New York Jets will face the New York Giants at 1 p.m. Sunday on the same channel.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Detroit Lions in the final preseason game of the year at 4:30 p.m. Sunday on CBS.

Weekend schedule (all times EDT)

Friday

Golf

Tour Championship: Second round from 1 to 6 p.m. on Golf Channel

Soccer

Serie A: Inter Milan at Lazio at 2:45 p.m. on Paramount+

La Liga: Osasuna at Real Betis at 4 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: LAFC at Austin at 8 p.m. on ESPN

MLS: Seattle at Portland at 10 p.m. on ESPN

NFL preseason

Bills at Panthers at 7 p.m. on NFL+

Seahawks at Cowboys at 8 p.m. on NFL Network

Chargers at Saints at 8 p.m. on NFL+

Patriots at Raiders at 8:15 p.m. on NFL+

MLB

Rays at Red Sox at 7 p.m. on Apple TV+

Guardians at Mariners at 7 p.m. on Apple TV+

NASCAR

Xfinity Series Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at 7:30 p.m. on USA Network

Saturday

Soccer

Premier League: Manchester United at Southampton at 7:30 a.m. USA Network

Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund at Hertha Berlin at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN+

Premier League: Everton at Brentford at 10 a.m. on USA Network

Premier League: Leeds United at Brighton at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: Leicester City at Chelsea at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: AFC Bournemouth at Liverpool at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: Crystal Palace at Manchester City at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: Fulham at Arsenal at 12:30 p.m. on NBC

Serie A: AS Roma at Juventus at 12:30 p.m. on beIN Sports

Bundesliga: Borussia Monchengladbach at Bayern Munich at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Houston at Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. on Twitter

MLS: Toronto at Charlotte at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Miami at New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Columbus at Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Colorado at Philadelphia at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

MLS: Montreal at Chicago at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: San Jose at Kansas City at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Salt Lake at Dallas at 9 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Nashville at Vancouver at 10 p.m. on ESPN+

College football

Austin Peay at Western Kentucky at noon on CBSSN

Nebraska at Northwestern at 12:30 p.m. on Fox

Idaho State at UNLV at 3:30 p.m. on CBSSN

UConn at Utah State at 4 p.m. on FS1

Wyoming at Illinois at 4 p.m. on Big Ten Network

Duquesne at Florida State at 5 p.m. on ACC Network

Charlotte at Florida Atlantic at 7 p.m. on CBSSN

Florida A&M at North Carolina at 8:15 p.m. on ACC Network

Nevada at New Mexico State at 10 p.m. on ESPN2

Vanderbilt at Hawaii at 10:30 p.m. on CBSSN

Little League World Series

Matamoros, Mexico or Willemstad, Curacao vs. Taipei City, Chinese Taipei at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN Deportes

Nolensville, Tenn., or Pearland, Texas vs. Honolulu at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN3

Golf

Tour Championship: Third round from 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Golf Channel; From 2:30 to 7 p.m. on NBC

NFL preseason

Jaguars at Falcons at 3 p.m. on NFL Network

Rams at Bengals at 6 p.m. on NFL Network

Commanders at Ravens at 7 p.m. on NFL+

Eagles at Dolphins at 7 p.m. on NFL+

Bears at Browns at 7 p.m. on NFL+

Cardinals at Titans at 7 p.m. on NFL+

Buccaneers at Colts at 7:30 p.m. on NFL+

Vikings at Broncos at 9 p.m. on NFL Network

MLB

Giants at Twins at 7 p.m. on Fox

Braves at Cardinals at 7 p.m. on Fox

Guardians at Mariners at 10 p.m. on FS1

NASCAR

Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at 7 p.m. on NBC

Sunday

Formula 1

Belgian Grand Prix at 9 a.m. on ESPN2

Little League World Series

Third-Place Game: TBD vs. TBD at 10 a.m. on ESPN

Final: TBD vs. TBD at 3 p.m. on ESPN3

Soccer

Spurs at Nottingham Forest at 11:30 a.m. on USA Network

La Liga: Real Valladolid at Barcelona at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Ligue 1: AS Monaco at PSG at 2:45 p.m. on beIN Sports

La Liga: Real Madrid at Espanyol at 4 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: DC United at Atlanta at 4 p.m. on Twitter

MLS: NYCFC at Orlando at 7:30 p.m. on FS1

MLS: Los Angeles Galaxy at New England at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

MLB

Dodgers at Marlins at noon on Peacock Premium

Braves at Cardinals at 7 p.m. on ESPN

NFL preseason

Giants at Jets at 1 p.m. on NFL Network

Lions at Steelers at 4:30 p.m. on CBS

Golf

Tour Championship: Final round from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Golf Channel; From 1:30 to 6 p.m. on NBC

WNBA playoffs

Seattle at Las Vegas at 4 p.m. on ESPN

Connecticut at Chicago at 8 p.m. on ESPN2